Advice
by xoxoSydney14
Summary: The morning after the Sozin's Comet kiss, Aang looks for guidance as his relationship with Katara gets off to a rocky start. KATAANG


_Ahhh!! I'm so pleased with how this turned out, like you have no idea! I feel like it so, so, so in character and it has a plot—even if its not very good—and everything!!_

_Well anyway…I wrote this specifically for the Aang fangirl community I belong to, Aang: The Sexy Beast. I chuckle every time I type it. Ha. You can find the link to it on my profile. :)_

_You should also check out my story The Kataang Chronicles, which is basically Kataang fluff and nothing else. Quality is failing there because I've been hurrying to post chapters. I've resolved to slow down and I recently gotten a Beta so that should help make future chapters better._

_Anyway…Enjoy!_

**_DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AANG'S CLUELESSNESS, KATARA'S TEMPER, KATAANG KISSES OR AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER._**

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**Advice**

I woke up midmorning to a knock on my door and Katara's voice calling from the hall. "Good morning, Aang!" I rubbed my eyes as I groggily sat up. _Well, that's different_, I thought. I was used to Katara making her rounds in the morning, making sure we were all awake, but normally she just rapped at our doors a couple times and moved on.

"'Kay," I called back, acknowledging that I'd heard her. As the fogginess of sleep cleared out of my head, I suddenly recalled the events of the balcony last night. Katara had kissed me—I grew weak-kneed at the though—and we'd finally confessed our feelings for each other. We were now a couple! The idea thrilled me, but also terrified me. Now that I was actually _in_ a relationship with Katara and my head wasn't being clogged with lovesickness, it occurred to me that I knew absolutely _nothing _relationships or women. I thought all of this through as I dressed—back in normal clothes; I didn't want to ruin my special robes.

Nervously, I quietly left my room and turned the corner at the end of the corridor to find Katara sitting on the floor of our living room with a bowl of bending water in front of her. "Hey Aang," she greeted me with a content smile. I beamed back and went to sit across from her. With my approach, she stopped idly bending the water in the basin and pushed it to the side. She looked at me and a moment of silence passed uneasily, both of us avoiding meeting the other's gaze. "So…how'd you sleep?"

"Pretty well actually," I mused, still glancing around awkwardly. "You?" I reciprocated to fill the quiet.

"Better than I've slept in months," she responded. Her open response brought my eyes to her face and blood to my cheeks. _No, no, no_, I scolded myself, _don't just _assume_ she slept well because of you!_ Her half-lidded eyes met mine and I saw pink highlighting her cheeks as she leaned forward, suggesting a kiss. Unlike the kiss we'd shared on the porch of General Iroh's teashop, I met her halfway. This kiss was more gentle than our dramatic, I'm-yours-forever kiss from the night before. Our mouths remained still for this one and our tongues stayed in our own mouth, but the breathtaking feeling of her warm, soft lips on mine was like a reassurance that, indeed, last night _was_ real, and that made it almost just as good. When we broke apart after several seconds, we were blushing equally and had similar blissful smiles spread across our faces.

"Katara, I—" My words were lost to hers. She'd said my name at the same time I'd spoken hers. "Go ahead."

"Oh, I was just going to say that I love you," she shrugged as if it were no big deal. In truth, it wasn't _that_ big of a deal—we'd said it to each other a couple times last night. It was only a big deal in my mind because I was stilled getting acclimated the fact that my feelings were requited.

"That's what I was going to say," I said honestly, blinking twice. "Love you," I ventured.

"Love you too, Aang," she responded. Her hand found mine as she shifted her weight to sit on the ground rather than on her knees. I grasped her hand just as firmly as she held mine. My thumb wandered across the back of her hand in small circles while I thought of something to say. I stared at her lovely face while she absentmindedly watched my thumb caress her hand. Her eyes—I could look at them all day and never name every shade of blue. They contrasted so vividly against her dark skin and chocolate-brown hair. Speaking of that hair—it was different than I had been last night and most of the time I'd known her—when we weren't in disguise. Her trademark hair-loopies were gone!

"You're hair's different," I commented, reaching out to gently tuck a piece behind her ear with my free hand. I gazed at her a bit longer a little glumly…I liked her hair-loopies.

"What's wrong?" she asked, searching my expression.

"Your hair-loopies are gone," I noted.

"I thought I'd change my hairstyle. I've worn it that way since I was little," she pondered nostalgically. "Why? Don't you like it?" Her expression changed instantly to an accusing one. I gripped her hand tighter before I responded.

"Of course I like it, Katara!" I responded quickly, trying to save my self from the hole I was apparently digging myself deeper and deeper into. Katara got so upset over the smallest things! If I didn't want her to tire of my thoughtless remarks and break up with me, I had to be more careful. Despite this resolve, I still managed to screw things up. "I just like you hair-loopies better!"

I soon found myself outside of the house, drenched with water, on my butt, and ignored until further notice.

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I decided not to pester Katara with apologies. I'd already tried before she kicked me out and I knew she needed time to cool off before she would talk to me. Girls were so confusing! One minute they're kissing you and the next moment they go on crazy on you about one little comment you made about their hair. I sighed, realizing that while Katara was moody, I gave her plenty of reasons to be angry. I was constantly saying things I didn't mean, or saying things I _did_ mean in the wrong way. When Katara asked me if I liked her hair, I should have said, "Of course. I always like what you look like, Katara. You're beautiful." It wouldn't have been a lie—Katara was positively lovely every second of every day. I could've tacked something on the end of it saying how I missed her hair-loopies, and then she wouldn't have gotten so upset.

I'd been wandering around the Upper Ring and soon found myself in a nice city park with a few cluster of trees in it. I plopped down on the soft grass in a secluded clearing and thought about meditating. I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate very well while Katara was upset with me, so I laid back and plucked a wildflower from the ground. I twirled the flower in my fingers lazily and watched the clouds roll past. I thought about how nice it'd be to enjoy this with Katara. Today would've been a perfect day to lie here with her and hold her hand. We could've even made it a date and gone to get some ice cream on the way home. Maybe there would still be enough time left in the day once she decided to forgive me.

As I entertained fantasies of Katara and me, an idea blossomed. I could ask Roku for advice! He'd ended up _married_ to the girl he'd always loved. He _had_ to have some tips to help me avoid ruining any chance I ever had with Katara. Excited to have a reason to contact Roku and glad that he would be there to provide advice, I sat upright instantly and assumed my meditative position. I concentrated for only a brief moment before I felt power course through me, lighting up my tattoos for a moment before Roku's spirit came away from my body to sit in front of me. The sun that shone behind him was so bright that I had to squint to see the blue, transparent figure

"Hello, Aang," he said good-naturedly, with a small smile. "What can I help you with?"

"Its about Katara…you know, the girl I'm in love with?" I checked to see that he nodded in response before continuing. "She finally told me she loved me too last night but then I said something stupid this morning and now she's mad at me. I'm going to go back soon and apologize once she's cooled off. But I know I'm going to keep messing things up."

"Ah, Aang," Roku sighed, "It will always be hard. You never know what might set her off."

"I know! That's the problem!" I groaned in frustration.

"I don't know what to tell you, Aang—you're much better off as far as love goes than I was at twelve years old." Roku chuckled, which kind of made me a little mad. Was he mocking my age? I chose to shrug it off. What good would it do to be upset with my own past life? "Know this, though: She loves you, Aang. All of your past lives have seen that in the times she had to bring you out of the Avatar State before you mastered it. She loves you, and you love her—that should be enough to maintain your relationship."

Avatar Roku's figure had disappeared into the wind and his words left a quiet echo. How could he be so sure that he and Katara would be fine in the end? It wasn't like he knew the future or anything…I guess he had all the wisdom of all my past lives with him though, and half of them were girls themselves! Maybe he did know what he was talking about…

I still felt so confused and worried about screwing up everything that I'd waited so long for. I felt like I needed some sort of insight into my problem that wasn't from experiences that were technically my own. I could ask Sokka for advice, but he was probably just as clueless as I was—about why girls were so crazy anyway. He probably wouldn't be too keen on discussing my love life with his sister either. I thought he was going to run me through when Katara and I returned to the teashop last night. I'm convinced that the only reason he didn't was because he didn't have his sword anymore and because Katara would've been irritated at him to say the least. Zuko was probably just as confused about the inner workings of a feminine mind as I was, so asking him wouldn't do any good. Asking Toph wouldn't be useful and would probably only get me a jolt into the air and a smart-aleck remark. Suki was another option…but she would no doubt tell Katara about my endeavor. I'd like to save myself from that embarrassment if I could.

So who was left? I scanned my memory. The slideshow in my mind landed on a conversation I'd once had with the retired General Iroh, Zuko's uncle and the owner of the teashop we'd been at last night. The discussion was back when I'd blocked my charka because I was so attached to Katara and Iroh had told me that he thought I was smart to choose happiness over power. So…it wasn't exactly helpful to my situation, but I liked his view on life. He was a wise old man. It couldn't hurt to ask him for some guidance in my relationship with Katara. I was sure he must have some tidbit of advice that would help. It wasn't like I was asking him about Avatar stuff this time—I was wondering about something I supposed all boys went through in their first relationships. _Wondering if girls are sane or no_t, I snidely remarked in my head.

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When I arrived at The Jasmine Dragon to seek General Iroh's counsel, the teashop was nearly empty. It was between rushes—about ten in the morning—so it made sense. It was a good thing for me—Iroh wouldn't be distracted by other customers. As I walked through the threshold of the nicely furnished store, Iroh turned from the brewing station in the back. "Back so soon, Avatar Aang?" he laughed. "I see you are without your new sweetheart."

"That's actually what I came to talk to you about," I sighed after the initial, 'oh right, Katara loves me. Fancy that', ran through my mind. I approached a table near to the back, meeting Iroh there. He held up a pot of tea and grabbed a couple cups from the counter.

"Would you care for a cup of tea while we talk?" He inquired politely. I nodded. "Now," he continued, pouring himself a cup. "What's on your mind?"

The entire story flew out of my mouth before I even took a second to think. I didn't withhold any details—I told him everything. From the way I'd felt when I realized she was about to kiss me to my worries about never being able to anything right to Roku's vague advice, I let it all go. Iroh remained silent the entire time, quietly listening. "And then I remembered the advice you'd given me once and I thought I'd come ask for help," I finally finished.

"In my experience, Aang," he began. I appreciated it that he dropped my "title" of Avatar. It made me feel a lot less childish to be here telling him about my girl problems. "The best you can do is to make sure she knows that she is loved," he stated simply before explaining.

"Avatar Roku was right, though very unclear about it. As long as you both know that you love each other unconditionally, things will turn out alright in the end. You will argue from time to time as all couples do, but as long as you do not let it affect your opinion of each other, your relationship will not suffer from it—it will only be made stronger. You shouldn't ever go to bed angry with each other. It will make the problem even more difficult to resolve."

Iroh spoke eloquently, but simply and honestly. I listened intensely, making sure not to miss anything. As he outlined this basic guide to keeping our relationship strong, I could feel everything coming together. His words evaporated one of the clouds of confusion in my mind. These things were all thing I'd heard before—things that sounded right. I just needed to hear them again so I could apply them to my problem.

"What should I do about her being mad at me though? Do I just apologize?" I asked. I felt like it was a dumb question. Iroh nodded calmly.

"Tell her that you love her, and that you think she's beautiful," he added. _Of course_, I thought, exactly_ what I realized I should've said in the first place._ I cursed my stupidity for the millionth time that day. I sighed and took a sip of my tea.

"I just wish I knew why she'd gotten so upset in the first place," I groaned. Iroh's gaze went over my shoulder.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Iroh smiled and I turned around to see Katara, shame-faced, behind me.

"Hi, Aang," she said softly without venom in her tone like I'd expected.

"I'll…just leave you two alone," Iroh excused himself.

"Katara, I—" My words were cut short for the second time that day.

"No, Aang," she pleaded firmly, "Don't apologize. _I _owe you an apology. I'm sorry got angry at you. I just…well, you know how my temper is," she blushed, embarrassed.

"Its okay, Katara. I really should apologize too though. I never say the right thing. You know how mixed up I get when I'm around you," I mimicked her explanation. Her already pink cheeks deepened in color. "It doesn't matter what your hair looks like, Katara. I always think you're beautiful," I said, for once following the script in my head.

"I still shouldn't have freaked out like that," she admitted again, guilt written all over her. "You were only telling me what you liked and I know that it doesn't even really matter to you anyway."

"I'm still going to buy you something on the way home," I resolved. Even though she admitted she was wrong to freak out, I was the one who gave her reason to. Katara smiled, just enough so that I knew it was okay to kiss her. I leaned in so that our faces were only inches apart and put my hands around her waist. "I love you."

"I love you too, Aang," she responded in a near whisper before she suddenly closed the distance between our lips. This kiss was syrupy-sweet, our lips locked perfectly together. I ran my tongue across her bottom lip cautiously as I tried to remember how we'd kiss last night. She seemed to enjoy it because she deepened the kiss so that our mouths fell open wider. Her hands, which were resting on my chest, grasped the fabric of my shirt. We broke apart several seconds later.

"I take it I'm forgiven then?" I teased. She giggled musically.

"Of course, Aang," she threw her arms over my shoulders. I pulled her close again to hug her. Iroh appeared next to us as we pulled away from each other, lovesickness swallowing us up.

"All is better now?" Iroh asked.

"Yes. Thank you for your advice," I bowed slightly, untangling myself from Katara's embrace. Iroh smiled, satisfied. As he walked away to help a customer at the counter, I took Katara's hand and bean leading her out of the teashop.

"Advice, huh?" she asked smugly, an amused smirk on her face.

"Yea…" I replied nervously, not wanting to tell her the whole story. "I'll tell you about later. Want to go get some ice cream or something?" I quickly changed the topic.

"Sure," she agreed with a knowing smile. I squeezed her hand tightly and smiled back innocently.

We were going to be fine, I was sure.

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_And there you have it folks! For those of you who've read my other stories, do you see what I mean? Isn't the quality SO much better?_

_I'd love some reviews. :D_

_Don't forget to check out my profile for my other stories!_


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